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Victoria’s 79 councils carry a range of risks across their significant assets and operations—at 30 June 2017, they controlled $91.2 billion of community assets, employed over 30 000 people and received $10.5 billion in revenue against $8.1 billion of expenditure. Councils need to identify, mitigate and, where appropriate, transfer any risks associated with their assets and operations. Councils purchase insurance as a form of risk transfer against a range of unforeseen losses.
This audit examined whether councils have been prudently managing insurable risks and procuring insurance that represents value for money. This audit assessed councils’ risk assessment policies and practices, including risk identification, risk mitigation and evaluation of insurable risks. The audit also assessed whether councils’ insurance policies adequately cover their insurable risks.
We audited seven councils, to provide comparability (four metropolitan councils and three regional or rural councils), contrast (metropolitan versus regional) and varying insurance histories.
The audited councils were:
City of Ballarat
Benalla Rural City Council
Glen Eira City Council
Kingston City Council
Pyrenees Shire Council
City of Stonnington
Yarra City Council.
The audit also included the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) as the provider of Liability Mutual Insurance, and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) as the lead agency supporting local government.
We made 17 recommendations—two for DELWP, five for all Victorian councils, one for Yarra City Council, one for City of Stonnington and eight for MAV.

The Municipal and Industrial Landfill Levy (MILL) and its distribution plays an important role in minimising the environmental impacts of waste and in promoting investment in alternatives to landfills. It was established in 1992 to encourage recycling by putting a price on every tonne of waste that goes to landfill.
These proceeds are used first to fund core activities of environmental agencies, with the remaining balance transferred to the Sustainability Fund (the fund). Payments from the fund can only be made to foster:
environmentally sustainable uses of resources and best practices in waste management
community action or innovation in relation to the reduction of greenhouse gas substance emissions, or adaptation or adjustment to climate change in Victoria.
This audit provides an independent assessment of, and insights into, whether the landfill levy system is being managed transparently and is meeting its intended legislative objectives. We focused on the financial management of the MILL and the fund, processes for prioritising and selecting programs funded from the fund, project management and outcomes of funding.
We audited five agencies involved with the collection of the MILL, administration of the fund and/or that are recipients of its funding:
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP)
Environment Protection Authority
Sustainability Victoria
Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group
Gippsland Waste and Resource Recovery Group.
We made 14 recommendations for DELWP in this audit.

Information and communications technology (ICT) is integral to how governments manage information and deliver programs and services. Comprehensive reporting of ICT expenditure and projects is important to improve transparency and provide assurance that public sector agencies have used public resources in an efficient, effective and economic way.
In our 2015 report Digital Dashboard: Status Review of ICT Projects and Initiatives, we found that public sector agencies’ financial and management processes did not enable the comprehensive reporting of actual ICT expenditure across the public sector. As a result, we recommended that the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) publicly report on ICT projects across the public sector.
In March 2016, DPC launched the Victorian Government ICT Dashboard for public sector ICT projects valued at more than $1 million. The ICT Dashboard shows key metrics such as cost, expected completion time frame and implementation status.
In this audit, we examined whether transparency in government ICT investments has improved since the development of the ICT Dashboard. We examined DPC’s role as the dashboard owner, and undertook a detailed review of selected projects in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Melbourne Water and Public Transport Victoria (PTV). We also examined the Department of Treasury and Finance’s (DTF) role in cross-checking with High Value High Risk reporting, as well as overseeing the process for agencies to make financial disclosures about ICT expenditure.
We made six recommendations. We directed four recommendations to DPC, one recommendation to DTF, and one recommendation to DHHS, DPC, Melbourne Water and PTV.

Publications - Victorian Auditor-General's Office

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Publications

Students in rural Victoria make up 30 per cent of the student population. In rural Victoria levels of disadvantage are higher and educational aspirations and outcomes are lower than for metropolitan areas. This creates unique and complex challenges for government agencies. This audit assessed the effectiveness of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's (DEECD) activities to ensure that Victorians in rural and regional areas have access to a high-quality education and that outcomes for these students are maximised.

The audit found that Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) is performing its role delivering legal aid services across Victoria, and prioritising the most vulnerable people based on a sound understanding of demand drivers and funding risks.

This audit assessed the extent to which people eligible for public dental services have timely access to dental services, and whether the Department of Health & Human Services and Dental Health Services Victoria effectively facilitate timely access.

Providing access to public housing is an important way that the government assists those in housing need. This audit examined how effectively the Department of Human Services (the department), through its Housing and Community Building division (the division), plans for and maintains public housing assets, to support current and future access for eligible tenants.

This audit assessed the accessibility of mainstream services such as hospitals, maternal and child health services, schools and kindergartens, and community and public housing for Aboriginal Victorians.

The Victorian school funding model is complex. Under the current model, government schools derive funding from multiple sources for various purposes. The information piece explains where the funding comes from and what it is used for.

Homelessness has a significant impact on both individuals and the community. Homeless people have poorer health, fewer social connections and fewer opportunities for education or employment. The audit examined whether Victoria's implementation of the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH) and the Victorian Homelessness Action Plan 2011-2015 (VHAP) is effective in addressing homelessness.